Sofia Carson reluctantly embarks on a quest to complete her childhood bucket list in Entertainment Weekly‘s exclusive look at the trailer for The Life List.

From writer-director Adam Brooks (Definitely, Maybe; Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason), the romantic comedy stars Carson as Alex Rose, a young woman who finds herself at a crossroads when her beloved mother, Elizabeth (Connie Britton), dies. While meeting with her mom’s lawyer to settle her affairs, Alex is stunned to learn that Elizabeth has left her an unusual message. In a pre-recorded video, Elizabeth explains that Alex must complete a childhood bucket list before she can receive her inheritance. This “life list,” which Alex compiled when she was 13, includes goals like doing stand-up comedy, making peace with her dad, and finding true love.

While The Life List has no shortage of swoon-worthy love interests, including that aforementioned lawyer, Alex’s deep bond with her late mom serves as the film’s emotional core. Exploring that tight mother-daughter relationship was part of what drew Carson to the role.

“I think one of the reasons that Adam and I connected so deeply was because of my relationship with my mom,” Carson tells EW. “He felt it really mirrored Alex and Elizabeth’s relationship.” In fact, it was Carson’s mother who first sent her the script, which the star calls “one of the most human scripts I’ve had the privilege of reading.” She adds, “I connected to Alex pretty instantly. Alex is all of us at some point in our lives, and the journey that she takes is so beautiful and meaningful; so simple, yet so powerful.”

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Brooks says his leading lady “dove into the role fearlessly.” For the filmmaker, the feature — an adaptation of Lori Nelson Spielman’s novel of the same name — was over a decade in the making. “The book was brought to me by a producer over 10 years ago,” Brooks explains. “I loved the themes of loss and reinvention, the mix of comedy and drama, and the wonderfully original central premise about the life list. It’s a story about the times in life when you need to take measure of who you are, what you’re doing, and who you’re doing it with. These are challenging moments, especially for people of Alex’s age. She’s almost 30 and urgently feels the need to redefine who she is in relation to love and work and family.”

Equal parts rom-com and family drama, the movie follows Alex as she reconnects with not just herself but those who’ve helped shape her. Carson says there was an “instant familiarity” with the “loving” and “open” Britton, as well as fellow costars Federico Rodriguez, Dario Ladani Sanchez, and José Zúñiga, who round out the Rose family. “That provided such a safe space for us to be so quickly vulnerable with each other,” she adds.

The Life List is, above all else, a “portrait of life,” Carson notes, adding, “Alex takes us through this journey of loss with tears in her eyes, a smile on her face, and wit on her lips as she learns to live again. More than anything, I hope you watch this film and feel awakened to life again.” Adds Brooks, “When you do a good job with a movie, people will come up to you and say, ‘How did you know that about me?’ Of course, you don’t actually know anything about them, but if you’ve been able to go deep into the specificity of your characters and story, you can touch all kinds of people. I hope people will give themselves to our story and, in return, get something that is entertaining but also cathartic, emotional, and very personal.”

Watch the trailer for The Life List, out March 28 on Netflix, above. Check out more exclusive photos below.